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It is a terrific example of how the Spirit administres tests.... Everyone gets tested! There is no exception...

The moral here, lies in how you handle yourself under such circumstances.

At a fundraising dinner for a school that serves learning-disabled children, the father of one of the school's students delivered a speech that would never be forgotten by all who attended.

After extolling the school and its dedicated staff, he offered a question.

"Everything God does is done with perfection. Yet, my son, Shay, cannot learn things as other children do. He cannot understand things as other children do. Where is God's plan reflected in my son?"

The audience was stilled by the query. The father continued. "I believe," the father answered, "that when God brings a child like Shay into the world, an opportunity to realize the Divine Plan presents itself. And it comes in the way people treat that child."

He then told the following story:

Shay and his father had walked past a park where some boys Shay knew were playing baseball. Shay asked,"Do you think they will let me play?" Shay's father knew that most boys would not want him on their team. But the father understood that if his son were allowed to play it would give him a much-needed sense of belonging.

Shay's father approached one of the boys on the field and asked if Shay could play. The boy looked around for guidance from his teammates. Getting none, he took matters into his own hands and said, "We are losing by six runs, and the game is in the eighth inning. I guess he can be on our team and we'll try to put him up to bat in the ninth inning." In the bottom of the eighth inning, Shay's team scored a few runs but was still behind by three.

At the top of the ninth inning, Shay put on a glove and played in theoutfield. Although no hits came his way, he was obviously ecstatic just to be on the field, grinning from ear to ear as his father waved to him from the stands.

In the bottom of the ninth inning, Shay's team scored again. Now, with two outs and bases loaded, the potential winning run was on base. Shay was scheduled to be the next at-bat. Would the team actually let Shay bat at this juncture and give away their chance to win the game?

Surprisingly, Shay was given the bat. Everyone knew that a hit was all but impossible because Shay didn't even know how to hold the bat properly, much less connect with the ball. However, as Shay stepped up to the plate, the pitcher moved a few steps to lob the ball in softly so Shay could at least be able to make contact. The first pitch came and Shay swung clumsily and missed.

The pitcher again took a few steps forward to toss the ball softly toward Shay. As the pitch came in, Shay swung at the ball and hit a slow ground ball to the pitcher. The pitcher picked up the soft grounder and could easily have thrown the ball to the first baseman. Shay would have been out and that would have ended the game.

Instead, the pitcher took the ball and threw it on a high arc to right field, far beyond reach of the first baseman. Everyone started yelling, "Shay, run to first. Run to first." Never in his life had Shay ever made it to first base. He scampered down the baseline, wide-eyed and startled. Everyone yelled "Run to second, run to second!" By the time Shay was rounding first base, the right fielder had the ball. He could have thrown the ball to the second baseman for a tag. But the right fielder understood what the pitcher's intentions had been, so he threw the ball high and far over the third baseman's head. Shay ran towards second base as the runners ahead of him deliriously circled the bases towards home.

As Shay reached second base, the opposing shortstop ran to him, turned him in the direction of third base, and shouted, "Run to third!" As Shay rounded third, the boys from both teams were screaming, "Shay! Run home!" Shay ran home, stepped on home plate and was cheered as the hero, for hitting a "grand slam" and winning the game for his team.

"That day," said the father softly with tears now rolling down his face, "the boys from both teams helped bring a piece of the Divine Plan into this world."

Aw... touching... _______________Sampling error.Assumption....If A, then B.B... then A??? I don't think so...._______________I think I read that story on a plaque hanging on some grandmother's wall... right next to "Footprints".

I'm not offended. I'm used to people not appreciating criticism here...

It's just that I got my fill of canned emotion from the 13+ years of "lessons" from the preacher at my church. And that was the same guy who made a sales pitch at my father's funeral.... "Christians go to heaven... As christians, we'll go to heaven... Because he was a christian, [Sclorch's pop] has gone to heaven instead of hell... God only saves the christians..."

--------------------What if everything around you
Isn't quite as it seems?
What if all the world you think you know,
Is an elaborate dream?
And if you look at your reflection,
Is it all you want it to be?

Through experience, I have come to realize that when emotions get involved into the equation, information that becomes stored in the mind, gets stored along side a "flag". The distance that this "flag" can be seen is proportionnal to the intensity of the emotion.

Ever notice how those "unforgettable" moments in your life are so easily accessed... both the positive AND negative?

Emotion plays a vital role in memory creation, storage and recollection.

Having more self control, you can influence your emotionnal reactions... What I mean is, you control how you react to something ( ..or you learn how).

Ever notice when someting is sooooo boring... you just simply don't absorb a thing... I've been there too... Like reading a paragraph in a book and then, going: "What was that again?"..... And then having to re-read; sometimes over and over...

You can learn self control; everyone can... You simply need to be a little more patient with yourself.

When there is something you must do, and you really don't feel like doing it... you would waste less of your own time, if you "put on a smile" and just did it right the first time... rather than "half-assing it" and needing to do it over, and over, and over...

Do you see what I am saying?

Then you come to realize, that by increaing your productivity during times of "work"... by default, you elongate the time span you are allocated for play.

So, in answer to your question: " I am playing the learning game. "

This was a mini test. If you had trouble with the story I presented, that means you have some work to do concerning a part of your emotions....

When riding in the chariot, you need to have a firm grip on the reigns. The steeds are trully mighty!

--------------------What if everything around you
Isn't quite as it seems?
What if all the world you think you know,
Is an elaborate dream?
And if you look at your reflection,
Is it all you want it to be?